History

Saur first appeared as a Bulbasaur in Bulbasaur, Come Home! inside Professor Oak's Lab. Red went to Professor Oak's Laboratory in hopes that the professor would teach him how to be a great Pokémon Trainer, and found a dark, empty laboratory. In one of the Poké Balls on an empty table was Bulbasaur. Professor Oak soon entered and startled Red, causing him to accidentally release all of Professor Oak's Pokémon from his lab. Red was ordered to retrieve Oak's Pokémon, and Bulbasaur was the last one to be found, in the closed Viridian Gym. Bulbasaur was scared, but Red used calming words to gain his trust, which caught Oak's interest, as in the past Bulbasaur was disobedient to the level of using Tackle on him. Disaster struck though as a wild Machoke appeared and attacked them. When all bets were off, Red took a wild guess and presumed that with the giant seed on Bulbasaur's back being his key trait, exposing him to rays of sunlight would be worth an attempt. He opened the curtains on the window, allowing him to use Solar Beam and defeat the bulky Pokémon in a flash. After the battle, Professor Oak saw the bonding occurring between Bulbasaur and Red, as well as the fact that Bulbasaur had learned how to use Solar Beam, and allowed Red to keep him, along with a Pokédex.

He evolved into Ivysaur in Wartortle Wars at the gates of Celadon City when he battled an attacking Primeape. Green, distracting Red with fake applause for this evolution, sold Red a bunch of fake items that did nothing but hinder him. Red proceeded to give chase on Green to get his money back, while Green used the opportunity to steal Red's two Badges. However, a chain of events unfolded in the Rocket Hideout that left Red (disguised as a Team Rocket Grunt) and Green allied. Saur's Vine Whip was used to try to capture the Mew that appeared before them. After they managed to save Mew from being caught by the Rockets.

In A Tale of Ninetales, Saur is accidentally traded to Blue alongside Poli and Pika. During the three days that Blue has them he trains them vigorously. They later traded back, while keeping the serious attitude that Blue installed in them.

In Meanwhile…Vileplume!, Saur battled in Red’s Gym battle against Erika in his fight to save Eevee. Red commands Saur to use Vine Whip and reel Tangela in, but Tangela tosses Saur away with little effort and defeats him.

In Kalling Kadabra, Red returns to Professor Oak's lab in order to find a way into Saffron City. The professor starts attacking and in response Red releases Saur to restrain Professor Oak with Vine Whip, but Professor Oak surprises them by exhibiting signs of Psychic power, and attacking Saur with a Psybeam. Recognizing the handiwork of a Psychic-type Pokémon, Red orders a Leech Seed from Saur, and as the "Professor's" energy is drained away it reveals itself as a Kadabra, which had been using its illusionary Hypnosis powers on Sabrina's command. As the Gym Leader herself appears, she graces Red with a warning before teleporting away. Before she teleports Saur uses Razor Leaf, but it goes right through Sabrina without doing anything to her. Saur later battled against Lt. Surge and Zapdos in Zap! Zap! Zapdos!. Saur's attempts to fight back with Razor Leaf seem hopeless until Red has Saur redirect the leaves it scattered from his Razor Leaf at Lt. Surge and Zapdos. The attack not only severs the wires directing Zapdos's electric power away from Surge, but also ruptures the Gym Leader's insulated suit, giving him a crippling dose of Zapdos's electricity that promptly knocks him out cold.

In A Charizard...and a Champion, Saur is Red's first Pokémon used in Red's battle against Blue and his Charizard in the Pokémon League. Blue orders a Fire Spin that Saur barely dodges, but as Charizard lunges in for a follow-up attack Saur surprises him with a burst of Poison Powder. Red follows with a Razor Leaf that Blue is forced to assist his addled Charizard in dodging, before switching for Snor to continue. Saur is later sent back out against Charizard. Following Poli and Pika, he was able to defeat Charizard by using the thundercloud created by his teammates in conjunction with his Vine Whip acting as a lightning rod.

Saur was seen in Red's battle against Bruno in Can You Diglett?, battling against his Onix. Saur used his vines to cover the ground, ready to defend against Onix. The moment Onix came up, Saur used all his vines to push Onix back. Suddenly, Onix's tail comes up from behind Red and smashes into him and Saur, sending them underground. Underground, there are several holes that Onix could come through. When Onix appears, it starts to charge at Saur. Saur braces himself, but the attack stops at the last moment as Bruno stops the battle.

Saur was seen in Forretress of Solitude, participating in Red's test to become Viridian City's Gym Leader. Saur first goes up against a Pineco, which he swiftly knocks out, as well as his next two opponents, a Forretress and another Pineco. However, the fourth opponent, another Forretress, resorts to its Spikes and puts up a fair fight against Saur. Red commands Saur to use Sweet Scent, then promptly switches him out for Snor.

In the Sevii Islands during My, My, My Mimic, Saur learned the move exclusive to the Grass-type starter families, Frenzy Plant, after training on Ultima's Jump Path, Catch Path, and Battle Path courses. Afterwards, the two boys' inability to perfect their respective move's accuracy would come to haunt them in the battle against Sird, Carr, and Orm. When Deoxys appeared, Saur nearly died shielding Red from the fearsome Pokémon's Psycho Boost attack.

Saur still managed to gather the strength to fight and participated in the battle on Trainer Tower in Meet Deoxys, and Deoxys, and Deoxys, and... against Deoxys' clones. Saur then agreed to be traded to Blue again to allow Red to Fly on Charizard and defeat the evil leader. After Giovanni's defeat, Saur was traded back to his original owner, but the two soon found themselves petrified by Sird with the four other Pokédex Holders and their Pokémon.

In The Final Battle VIII, the Kanto Pokédex Holders, Silver, and their Pokémon are freed from their petrified states by the power of Jirachi's wish-granting abilities. Together alongside the ten Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn Pokédex holders, Saur battled against Guile Hideout's fake Kyogre. Together with Crystal's Megaree and Emerald's Sceptile, Saur attacks with Frenzy Plant to destroy the fake Kyogre.

In Omega Alpha Adventure 11, Saur battled alongside Blasty against Maxie and Archie in order to retrieve the stolen Red and Blue Orbs they took from Bill. Here, it is revealed that Saur and Blasty have gained the ability to Mega Evolve into Mega Venusaur and Mega Blastoise, respectively. Maxie and Archie counter by having their Camerupt and Sharpedo Mega Evolve as well. Eventually, Saur and Blasty succeed in defeating Camerupt and Sharpedo, but the battle is interrupted by the arrival of Groudon and Kyogre. Maxie and Archie use the orbs to turn Groudon and Kyogre into their Primal forms. With its new power, Groudon proceeds to easily defeat Red and Green by creating a sink hole to bury them under.

Personality and characteristics

Prior to joining Red's team, Saur was a timid Pokémon due to never seeing anyone other than Professor Oak and would attack when startled. Upon leaving the lab, Saur quickly develops a close bond with Red and gets over his shyness. The two of them share a close bond and can even formulate plans without the use of words, as shown in their battle against Lt. Surge and Zapdos.

A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

Trivia

Although Red seemed excited when Saur first evolved into Ivysaur, the levels given for the Pokémon in the first volume show that he should have reached his evolution stage long ago, which would only indicate that Red was using his Pokédex to stop the evolution before, as that is the only way to stop a Pokémon from evolving in the series. Likewise, the second volume lists Saur as a level 38 Ivysaur, which is 6 levels higher than what would have been needed to evolve to his final stage.